Michel Kikoine was born on May 31, 1892 in Rechytsa, Russian Empire (present-day Rechytsa, Homyel'skaya Voblasts', Belarus). He was a son of Samuel-Peretz Kikoine a Jewish banker, and Geni Tsiyuni.
In 1924, Michel received French citizenship.
Kikoine began studying art as a boy at the Kruger School of Drawing and Painting in Minsk. There, he befriended Chaim Soutine and Pinchus Kremegne, with whom he remained friends throughout all his life. Some tme later, during the period from 1908 till 1911, Michel studied at Vilnius Academy of Arts.
While in Paris, Kikoine attended École des Beaux-Arts, where among his many teachers were Pissarro and Cezanne, whose instructions would have a lasting impression on the artist.
During World War I, Michel volunteered and fought in the French army. In 1919, he held his first exhibition in Paris and afterwards, the painter would often show his works at the Salon d'Automne. In 1926, Michel settled down for a while on a farm in the Burgundy region, where he worked together with Soutine, Kremegne and others.
The onset of World War II kept Kikoine and his family out of Paris, due to the fact, that they were Jewish. Somehow they managed to avoid deportation and death by hiding out in Toulouse during the war. Kikoine was one of many Jewish painters from the Montparnasse area to survive the Holocaust.
Upon the liberation of France, Kikoine returned to Paris and started to paint again. At that time, he mostly painted self-portraits, portraits and nudes. In 1950, 1953 and 1958, he visited Israel, where several of his exhibitions were held. Also, in 1953, Michel published an album of color lithographs "Children of Israel". In 1958, the painter settled down in Cannes, where he painted landscapes until his death.
In October 1973, a retrospective of Kikoine's works, including 94 paintings, was organized in Paris at the Galerie de Paris.
Michel Kikoine was one of the most important artists of the "Paris School" – a group of young artists, many of which were Jewish, who came to Paris mainly from Eastern and Central Europe. He was one of those artists, who changed the face of art in France in the period between the two World Wars, quickly became an important part of the avant-garde creation and played a central role in positioning Paris as the world capital of art.
"Paysage Cezannien" is one of his most famous paintings. Also, his works are kept at different museums in Russia, Great Britain, Japan, Switzerland and Israel.
In 1914, Michel married Rosa Buminovich. Their marriage produced a daughter and a son, Jacques Yankel, who also became a painter.
